Namárië
by ValadhielGreenleaf10
Summary: Half-Elf, Half-Hobbit girl falls in love with two very different people. Takes place in Middle Earth.
1. Chapter 1

"Sing us a story, daddy!"

Sam laughed. "Alright. Only one, though. Then, off to bed."

All the little hobbits nodded their heads and gathered around. I stayed in my chair in the corner. I was long past the age of sitting on the floor when a story was told to the little hobbits.

Sing me a story of heroes of the Shire,

muddling through, brave and true.

Stubborn as bindweed and tough as old brier,  
never too showy or grand.  
Year after year they persevere,  
now and for always.

Some of the little ones began to nod off, but Sam continued singing.

Harfoots who planted, and Stoor folk who ploughed,  
bred to endure, slow but sure.  
Fallohide blood in your veins makes you proud,  
sturdy and steady they stand.  
True to their aim to stay the same,  
now and for always.

Sam looked over to me as he began the chorus. He knew I would remember hearing my father's voice singing along with his.

Sit by the firelight's glow,  
tell us an old tale we know.  
Tell of adventures strange and rare,  
never to change,  
ever to share.  
Stories we tell will cast their spell,  
now and for always.

All the little hobbits except the older ones were fast asleep. The adults began to pick up their children and leave. The oldest ones wanted to stay to the end of the story, so some of the little hobbits were laid across laps while the adults talked.

Sing me a story of Frodo and the ring.  
Fearless and bold,  
tired and cold.  
Sword at his side,  
an elf blade called Sting,  
crossing a miserable land.  
Wouldn't retreat,  
just followed his feet,  
now and for always.

I stood and walked over to Sam as he sang the chorus, and I joined in singing.

Sit by the firelight's glow,  
tell us an old tale we know.  
Tell of adventures strange and rare,  
never to change,  
ever to share.  
Stories we tell will cast their spell,  
now and for always.

Sam usually would have stopped singing after that verse, but I continued it for him. Some of the adults were surprised. None of them had heard the last verse since my father had sat and sang with them years ago.

Sing me a tale of the bravest of them all.  
Comrade and guide, at my side.  
Stouthearted Sam, who wouldn't let me fall,  
holding my life in his hand.  
True to the end, no finer friend,  
now and for always.

When I finished the verse, Sam started up the chorus one last time, and I saw he had tears welling up in his eyes.

Sit by the firelight's glow,  
tell us an old tale we know.  
Tell of adventures strange and rare,  
never to change,  
ever to share.  
Stories we tell will cast their spell,  
now and for always.

The song was finished, and all the little hobbits were asleep. I helped Uncle Sam carry his little ones to bed, and went back to my chair by the fire. I was nearly half finished with his Christmas gift and I wanted to have it finished by the next party.

"Mar, can I talk to you," Sam asked as he walked back into the room.

I nodded, and finished off the stitch I was on. "Yes, Uncle Sam?"

"You've heard me sing that story at every party since you were little. Why did you only just today sing along with it?"

"I really don't know, Uncle Sam." I paused for a moment. "Maybe it was so the whole story wouldn't be forgotten. The little hobbits haven't heard that last part, and I couldn't let the older ones forget it existed."

Sam smiled. "You're a sweet girl, Mar."


	2. Chapter 2

My name is Rowan Namárië Baggins. I am not really related to Sam, but he has been like a father to me since my own father, Frodo Baggins, crossed to the Grey Havens with the elves. My mother, though I have never met her, was a beautiful elf.

Sam says someday he'll take me to meet her, but since I am only seventeen, I shouldn't go yet. In hobbit years, I am still a child.

Sam was my father's best friend, and when my father went away with the elves, Sam promised him that he would take care of me as if I was his own child. He has been very kind to me, and has kept his promise well.

Every night, before I fall asleep, I lay awake in my bed, and imagine I'm talking to my father again. He left when I was just six or seven years old, but I remember him so well.

When I close my eyes, I can see him standing in front of me. He's much shorter than I, and though he is just a young man in hobbit years, he looks very old. His bright blue eyes went dim long before he left, but when he looked at me, something sparkled in his eyes.

Pippin says I was the best adventure of my father's life. I was born on his birthday, which made him very happy. They tell me that I was a good baby, and I only cried when I was hungry.

"You were a beauty, Mar," Merry said once. "I can tell you right now, you are going to grow up to be a beautiful woman."

Merry and Pippin have been like good friends to me. They might be older than I am, by a good many years, but they give good advice, and they keep me out of too much trouble.

Sam, Merry, and Pippin are the only people that will call me anything near my middle name. Rosie, who had helped raise me, only calls me Rowan. My elvish name scares some of the hobbits, so none of them ever use it.

Namárië means farewell in Elvish. Most of the hobbits think that it was Frodo's way of saying he knew he was going to have to leave soon. They treat my name as if it were a curse. I think it is beautiful, and it is a link to my elf mother.

I sat up all that night thinking about my father, my mother, all of my friends here in the Shire, and what kind of adventures I would have someday. I dreamed of my mother that night. She never showed me her face, but she was very tall, and I could tell she was beautiful.

"My beautiful Namárië…" That was the only thing she said. Her voice sounded sad and lonely.

When I woke up the next morning, I told Sam about my dream.

"She sounded so lonely and sad," I said. "All she said to me was 'My beautiful Namárië…' Then she disappeared."

Sam took this as some kind of an omen, and went to talk to Merry and Pippin about it. They all came to talk to me later on that day. Pippin had apparently been elected to tell me about it.

"We have thought about your dream an awful lot today, Mar," he said. "Sam, Merry, and I have decided that it would be good for you to go and see your mother."

Merry nodded. "We thought that, maybe, your dream was telling you something was happening to her, and that you need to see her right away."

"So, we're going to see my mother?" They all nodded. "Where does she live?"

"Somewhere around Rivendell," Sam said. "We'll go there to look for her first."

I was very nervous while I was packing my things. It was at least a week's trip to Rivendell, so I had to pack enough clothes to last me about a month if we had to look places farther than Rivendell.

Merry laughed when he saw my bags. "Where do you think you're going, Mar? You only need one set of clothes to travel in. Bring two, so you can have one clean pair while you're washing the other set."

"I want to bring something nice to wear for when I meet my mother," I said. "So, two pairs of clothes to travel in, and one nice set for when I see her?"

He nodded. "Now you're thinking. You don't want to weigh down your horse with three YEARS worth of clothes," he chuckled. "We'd never make it to Rivendell if you did."

I smiled. "Thanks, Merry."

He left the room and I unpacked all of the bags. I grabbed the smallest bag I could, and jammed two sets of traveling clothes in it, and began folding a dress to take with me. Rosie walked in the room and smiled. "You're taking the dress I made you?"

"Of course," I said, smiling. "I'll miss home while I'm gone. This will remind me of you."

She walked out of the room, and brought me a small bottle. "It's a bit of my perfume," she said. "In case you miss home, and want a little bit of it there with you on the road."

I hugged her. "Oh, thank you, Rosie." My eyes started tearing up. "That is the sweetest thing… Thank you so much."

The bag I had chosen was almost full, and I decided I would keep the bottle of Rosie's perfume in a small pouch on my belt. "So, while I'm on my horse, if I miss you too badly, I'll have it right there with me," I told her.


	3. Chapter 3

Pippin couldn't come with us, because "The Thain's work is never done." He slipped me a bit of pipeweed, and told me, "Don't you smoke that, Mar. It's to put in that pouch of home-smells you've got."

I grinned. "Thanks, Pip." I wrapped it up in a handkerchief and put it right next to Rosie's perfume.

Rosie and all the little hobbits walked with us to the edge of Farmer Maggot's property, and saw us off on our adventure.

Merry chuckled as we got onto our horses there. "I remember, the last time I went on an adventure, Pip and I ran straight into Frodo and Sam right where Rosie's standing." He smiled. "That day changed our lives, didn't it, Sam?"

Sam nodded. "I'd never been farther from home until that day. And now, I'd have to go all the way past Mount Doom to be the farthest from home today."

I absolutely loved hearing stories about when they had gone on the journey to destroy the Ring. I didn't like hearing about the Ring as much as I did my dad, but all the same, they were good stories.

"So, who were the other people who traveled with you, Uncle Sam?" I loved starting him on his stories.

"Oh, there were a lot of people who traveled with us, but the most important was Gandalf," he said. "Gandalf was the wizard who used to come visit us in the Shire. He was a kind man, and he was the one that forced me and Frodo into the grand friendship we had."

Merry was silent through Uncle Sam's stories. He liked hearing what Sam and Frodo were doing when he wasn't there. Merry never told me much about what happened to him when he wasn't with them.

"Well, Mar," Merry said. "You remember always nagging me to tell you all about my adventures? Well, I think you're old enough to hear about them today."

I smiled widely. "Really, Merry?"

He nodded. "Pippin and I, the only hobbits left with the Fellowship, were stolen by Orcs, who thought we were the ones with the Ring," he said. "If we had let them know we didn't have it, they would have eaten us for dinner."

"I had gone nearly three days with nothing to drink, and I fainted. Pippin found one of them drinking something and asked him to give me some water. It was NOT water, but it woke me up," Merry continued. "Pip looked pretty worried, so I convinced him that I was just acting sick, so they'd let us go. Pip, the gullible hobbit he is, believed me." He looked off into the distance. "I never did tell him the truth about that."

"So, what happened then?" I was sucked into the story.

"There was a battle. Some men attacked the Orcs, and we got away during the battle." He smiled. "Then we met a tree. Well, Treebeard wasn't really a tree, he was an Ent," Merry said. "He took us back to his home in the woods, and Pippin and I drank some of his water, and we grew taller than any hobbit ever has."

I looked at him. "How did the water make you taller?"

"It was magical water," he replied. "That was the water that turned normal trees into Ents."

Sam interrupted Merry's story, and told us that it was time to rest. "The horses need a drink."

The horses we were riding weren't really horses. They were half pony, half mearas. Mearas are very intelligent, strong horses. I've heard of some that could understand when you spoke to them, and some could even speak back.

We sat around a fire in the woods, and ate a bit of dinner. Merry said he would finish the story in the morning, when we started off on the trip again.

"I can't wait to get to Rivendell," Sam said. "I absolutely LOVED the Lembas bread they gave us for the journey to Mount Doom."

"Lembas?" I hadn't heard of them before. "What was it like?"

Sam thought for a moment. "It was hard on the outside, but soft and nearly buttery on the inside," he said. "Did I ever tell you about the time I tried to feed them to Gollum?"

"I don't think you have, Sam. Will you tell me?" I knew he would.

"Frodo and I were in the middle of nowhere. Not a tree in sight. No birds in the sky, no fish anywhere close, because there was no water. Nothing," he said. "We had Lembas in our packs, so I got some of mine out. Gollum was complaining about being hungry, so I threw him a bit. He chewed on it for a minute, then…"

Merry spat a huge chunk of bread out of his mouth. He nearly scared me to death. "It tries to KILL us, it does!" Merry was imitating Gollum.

I laughed. "You scared me!" I play hit him. "Mean Merry!"

He laughed with me. "Well, let Sam finish his story, Mar."

"Well, that's pretty much how it ended," Sam said. "Thank you for that WONDERFUL demonstration, Merry."

We all sat around laughing, and joking until Sam announced that it was time for bed. Each of us had brought a small pallet to sleep on, and a blanket. Merry and Sam put theirs on either side of mine, so they could make sure nothing could get to me.

I couldn't sleep for all the snoring coming from Merry, who was on my left. So I tried rolling over and facing away from him. I had a large bruise on my right arm that made it very uncomfortable to sleep that way. In the end, I slept curled up, facing towards Merry, who had stopped snoring.


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning, after our small breakfast, we started off again. This part of the trip was nearly silent, because I was still very tired. After rolling around all night trying to get comfortable and ignore Merry's snoring, I was exhausted. The hour or so I HAD slept took the edge off my exhaustion, but I was still tired.

"Mar?" I looked to Merry, who looked a little worried. "Are you alright? You don't look like you feel so great."

I nodded. "I'm fine. Just tired."

He nodded, grinned a little, and then turned back to watching the road.

I must've been more tired than I thought, because I fell asleep, and right off the side of my horse.

I woke up the moment I hit the ground. There was a sharp pain in my right arm, and I cried out in pain.

Merry leapt off his horse and ran to my side. "Are you alright, Mar?"

With my arm throbbing the way it was, I couldn't even think straight.

"Does this hurt?" Merry poked my right arm lightly. I nodded. He pulled up my sleeve to examine my arm, and saw the bruise. "Was this already here?" I nodded again. "Well, I think you just made your bruise a little bigger. But you'll survive."

He helped me up, and I started walking towards my horse.

"No. Come here," he said. "You give me Lily's reins. I'll tie her to my horse, you're riding with me."

I tried to protest, but nobody would listen to me.

"You fell off your horse, Mar," Sam said. "Listen to Merry, and get on his horse. You are too tired to be riding on your own."

We started riding again, and I was very uncomfortable sitting in front of Merry. If I was going to fall asleep, I'd have to lean back on him. That wouldn't be so bad if I was a little kid, but I'm nearly an adult, what would people think?

"Mar, don't fight sleep," Merry said, softly. "You need to rest. I won't let you fall, if that's what you're worried about." He pushed my head back onto his shoulder. "Just sleep. I'll wake you up when we stop to rest the horses, alright?"

I nodded. "Ok, Merry." I yawned.

Merry chuckled. "Good girl."

I closed my eyes and listened to the sound of our horses walking down the road. It was very calming and had me asleep within a few minutes.

When I woke up, it was getting dark. I sat up straight and Merry said, "Well good morning, Sunshine."

Sam laughed. "You really must not have slept well last night."

I rubbed my eyes. "No, I didn't."

"Why not?" Merry asked.

"Did you know that you snore?"

Merry gasped. "I do not," he said, mock-insulted. "You take that back!"

I laughed. "So you knew?"

"Yeah. Just didn't know it was so bad that it would keep someone awake." He laughed. "So, I'm guessing I should try to stop?"

"Unless you want me riding with you all the time," I said, "I suppose you should."

Sam laughed, and when I turned to look at him, he acted as though he hadn't made a sound. He stopped his horse and said, "This looks like a good place to rest for the night."

We had a small dinner, and when we finished, Merry said, "Mar, I think you should try to go to sleep now. Just so I don't keep you awake with my snoring." He smiled.

I giggled, and agreed. I set out my pallet and laid down. After awhile, I just pretended to be asleep so they'd start talking. It was getting pretty boring with them just watching me.

Sam walked over and looked at me. It was hard to keep myself from giggling, but I remained still, and he walked back over to Merry. "I'm pretty sure she's asleep now," he said.

"Good," Merry said. "I need to talk to you. It's about what happened today."

"I'm sorry I laughed," Sam said. "What did you expect me to do when she asked if you wanted her riding with you?" Sam laughed. "It IS funny, you know."

Merry nearly growled at his friend. "Not when my answer would have been that she COULD."

"That's the funny part!" Sam cracked up. "I know I should be acting a little more like she was my daughter about this, but it's just too funny." Sam stopped laughing, and continued the thought. "Merry, we all know how you feel about Mar. Even Frodo knew, when he was alive, and she was just a little girl back then."

"What are you talking about," Merry said. I could hear the defensiveness in his voice. "How do I feel about her?"

"Merry…" Sam sounded serious. "You leapt, not just jumped, LEAPT off your horse when Mar fell. You checked her arm, as if you knew anything about breaks or fractures. You insisted that she ride on YOUR horse… Merry, you love her."

Merry got defensive again. "You love her too!"

"In a different way," Sam said. "I love her as a father should. You're acting like a love-struck little boy."

Merry sighed. "Can I help it? That's the way I feel." He sighed again. "You said even Frodo knew it? Back when he was still here with us?"

"Yeah," Sam said. "But he seemed okay with it. I think, since Mar's half Elf, she'll age like the Men do. Or she'll just live forever, like her mother." I could hear a smile in Sam's voice. "Frodo would've approved of you for Mar. I'm sure of it."

They came to set up their beds, and I felt Merry watching me as I pretended to sleep. Sam had fallen asleep the moment his head hit the pallet. Merry still only sat on his pallet, looking at me. He leaned over me, pushed a piece of hair out of my face, and kissed my cheek. "Goodnight, Namárië."


End file.
